Humphry Slocombe Ice Cream

If you’re looking for a simple scoop of chocolate ice cream…or vanilla…or strawberry…you’re not going to find it at Humphry Slocombe in San Francisco.

Okay, you might see one of them nestled somewhere amongst the wacky flavors on the ever-changing list. But you’ll have a better chance of finding Fumé (smoked) ice cream, Chocolate passion fruit, and cinnamon brittle. There’s a decidedly non-kosher Boccalone proscuitto ice cream, as well as Ancho coffee, Jesus juice sorbet (you don’t want to know…), Balsamic caramel, and Secret breakfast, a mixture of milk and sweetened breakfast cereal.

Granted these flavors aren’t for the timid. And they’re probably not what most people expect when they’re handed a cone. But each scoop is a one-of-a-kind experience and the flavors are the work of ice cream-maker Jake Godby, who’s rearranging the boundary between sweet and savory.

I will try almost anything once, but I have to admit, the Jesus Juice scares me a little. I think that on my next trip to the Bay Area… I will go for the Hibiscus Beet… it’s a flower thing. The Cinnamon Brittle and Chocolate Passion Fruit sound dreamy too.
-Michaela

Wow. That’s some serious ice cream, great address. Does that sign say peanut butter curry ?? I’ll take a double scoop of secret breakfast and balsamic caramel, please ! I’m curious what you got…. and what you thought !

i love it when people mix flavors that are unexpected, but work perfectly. so hooray! and savory ice cream is definitely something i wouldn’t mind seeing explored more. hope you are enjoying the states again!

Actually, I DO want to know about the Jesus juice sorbet. I went to their website, but couldn’t find it. It isn’t blood orange, is it? They also have cream cheese ice cream. That sounds good, but the government cheese flavor doesn’t sound so great.

David – I’m about to try your bacon ice cream – another original. I’ve been open to the idea of savory ice creams ever since I tried roquefort ice cream in Barcelona a few years ago – it was sublime! Keep them coming!

Oh if i lived in San Francisco, I’d definitely come back to the shop at every chance I get and try every single flavor they have… oh I wish! I must admit that I’m not totally convinced of ‘tasty salted pig parts’, but when they call it “Boccalone proscuitto” it sounds rather tempting…

When I see flavour combinations like this I always wonder if they actually taste good.

There are some chefs out there who seem to think that putting flavours together in unexpected ways will set them apart from the rest and let everyone see how brilliant they are at pushing the envelope. It seems as if it becomes an ego thing for them, and they forget that people eat out because they want to eat something delicious.

Intriguing icecream flavours, just today I saw a “tomato” icecream which I was told was made with the same recipe as strawberry icecream just changing the fruit. I did try this summer however an incredible icecream flavoured with rosemary and vanilla… it was delicious ;-).

You made it to Humphry Slocumbe before us, & we live in Bay area! Wanted to go just for the name & the good BBC memories (let alone the great write-ups) but got distracted the last time we were in SF. See you tonight @ Charles Choc.
bises, Lynn T.

Just read an article about this ice cream in the AJC by Joe Yonan for the Washington Post. Had to stop by your blog and comment. I am a new blogger and looking for sites to use as a resource for my food’s class. This is a hit. Need some male writers. Thanks.

Sam: It’s because people are pushing the envelope that new dishes and tastes get developed. Not everything works, but I was doing a demo in France and made the Avocado Ice Cream with espresso over it from my ice cream book, and no one wanted to taste it. (It’s a popular combination in Brazil.) But when they finally did, people flipped over it. It’s delicious!

So while I’m not one for silliness in the kitchen–like the anchovy-flavored chocolate I once had in Spain–I do think it’s fun to play around. (I had my reservations with molecular gastronomy.) Ice cream is a good medium for experimentation, and for those unwilling to take the plunge, the staff was extremely friendly, and generous with samples.

“Jesus Juice” — Coke & red wine. It’s what MJ served his young houseguests when they’d visit the Neverland ranch.

My favorite HS flavors are salt ‘n peppa & olive oil… the former was kind of mind-blowing first time I tried it. Really anything they make is very very good. Also, check for the foie gras ice cream sandwiches — sometimes they have ‘em in.

Ancho Coffee and Peanut Butter Curry… definitely on my must-try list the next time I head to SF. I love that smack-dab in the middle of all these outrageous flavors is “Honeydew.” Yeah, I’ll have to get some of that, too.

So bummed BlogHer Food sold out ages ago. I missed the boat. :( Was hoping to score a ticket as I contemplate jumping into this crazy blogging world. That would be a great giveaway – last minute pass to BlogHer Food – don’t you think? (hint hint) ;)

This sounds like Scoops in LA! They make crazy flavors, and even have a chalkboard for guests to write flavor suggestions on. Brown bread, black pepper, beer etc are all interesting flavors they’ve come up with!

I was going to explain that Humphrey Slocombe wasn’t a coincidence, but I see that my mom beat me to it. Who doesn’t love Are You Being Served?

David, sorry I can’t make it tonight to see you, but I have to be in class tonight. :( But mom and Janet will be there and can tell me about the fabulous time I missed. I hope mom brings me some Charles Chocolate s’mores. Hint, hint.

This reminded me of the tiny ice cream shop in Venezuela: “Heladeria Coromoto”, a teeny shop up in the Andean town of Merida (http://www.travbuddy.com/travel-blogs/2533/900-flavours-ice-cream-138) boasts the most flavors to date according to the Guiness Book of World Records! There are 900 flavors, ranging from the traditional chocolate, to wackiest such as “Pabellon”, the national dish of shredded beef, black beans, rice, and fried plantains. Love the dish, but on a cone? Hmmmm. ..

So glad to hear that Humphrey Slocombe is still alive and well! I was so glad to have visited them when they were first open last year and serving just a small handful of flavors. It’s tops on my list of places to visit when I go home for the holidays to see the folks!

secret breakfast is my favorite!! i love learning of new ways to indulge in bourbon. my favorite thing about humphry slocombe though is that though they always have customers there is never a ridiculous line.

We have some fantastic ice cream and gelato joints here in Vancouver, B.C. For variety, there’s Casa Gelato, boasting 508 flavours, some of which are unusual to say the least (durian, garlic, and basil/Pernod). For really wonderful flavour however, I like to frequent Brazza on the North Shore and Mondo Gelato downtown. But, nothing beats settling in for the evening and making a recipe from your excellent book “The Perfect Scoop”! Thank-you for sharing your brilliance with the rest of the world. But I have to confess a fear of the ice-cream/meat combination (Though what carnivore doesn’t love a cream sauce with meat in it? So really – what’s the diff? I guess some of us are just wimps….)

Avocado ice cream, avocado shake and avocado popsicles are regular treats when we were young (and also until now!). Almost anything sweet that can be done to avocadoes has been done here in the philippines…..

we are not used to the savory (guacamole/dipping/salad) dishes you usually use avocado for =)

my dad would raise his eyebrows and tell me I’m weird for using avocado as a dip :)

Greetings from Sydney, Australia. I am a new subscriber and this is my first comment. A fantastic intro to this intriguing ice-cream maker. Many thanks. San Francisco and Sydney are twin cities and we also have a vigorous, deliciously politically incorrect food scene here. One of our restaurants once served parmesan and tomato ice-cream with caramelised saffron reduction. A most successful combination which manages to avoid the self-consciousness of molecular gastronomy.

Coke and red wine??? In Spain, we call this “calimocho” and it’s what young people drink when they want to get drunk fast….

There’s a ice-cream shop in Gijon, a city in Northern Spain, where they have been serving fabada (chorizo and white bean stew) ice-cream, sea urchin ice-cream and cabrales ice-cream (cabrales is a blue cheese similar to stilton) for ages. Fabada ice-cream is not their most sold flavour, but blue-cheese is very good and loved.

Only days ago did I discover I small artisan gelateria in a little town in the Italian Veneto region where I tasted liquorice ice cream for the first time in my life: So good, I wished I could pass there once a week!

I guess I’m not very adventurous food-wise. I could handle the Jesus Juice, anything chocolate, and the cream cheese but most of the flavors sound disgusting to me. I know for sure my French husband wouldn’t try any of them! The French don’t seem to be very open when it comes to their food traditions and palette! Cynthia

We’re planning a trip to SF in the next year, and this is going on the list – hoping to get a group of adventurous friends together over several flavors, with several spoons. Loved bacon ice cream, so why not salted pig parts, which is, after all, what bacon is….

Unrelated to icecream, I just wanted to say thank for for your write ups of L’Etoile d’Or. My family visited the store yesterday and loved it and Ms Acabo. My sister, who can not go an hour without chocolate (and still maintains an impossibly thin figure, blast her) was completely enchanted, and I’m getting a nice, big box of goodies brought home to me.

When I was reading the chalkboard in the photo, for a split second I read “hibiscus beet” as “hibiscus beetle” (because it was over the word brittle, I guess) and thought that was by far the weirdest flavor I’ve ever seen. Heh. Not so far fetched, perhaps, with what these mad scientists are up to. I’ve heard of lobster ice cream around here in the northeast and I think that still takes the far-out cake. It is an insect of the sea, right?

Love this place and feel lucky to live in the SF Bay Area! One frustrating thing (unless they’ve changed in the last couple of months) is that the flavors vary every day, with the exception of Secret Breakfast and a few others. So if the list has Ancho Coffee today, you may not find it there when you visit on another day.

RE: Brown bread ice cream. My husband and I had this in England three years ago. It was delicious. We considered going back for a second scoop, but then thought, Oh, we’re not that hungry. We’ll get it tomorrow. But tomorrow, we were in a different place and there was no brown bread ice cream to be had.

We went to England three weeks ago. I had googled and googled trying to find a place that sold it. I asked every ice cream store we passed. All to no avail. I guess I will just have to make it myself.

I love Humphrey Slocombe’s and I have to say, I was a bit reluctant to try the Jesus Juice, but oh, boy was I glad to have worked up the nerve as it worked so well. I’ve never had a bad flavor of any of the unique combos at that place.